The Future of Workforce Management For Retailers

1、t t th h he e e f f fu u ut t tu u ur r re e e o o of f f wwwo o or r rk k kf f fo o or r rc c ce e e mmma a an n na a ag g ge e emm me e en n nt t t f f fo o or r r r r re e et t ta a ai i il l le e er r rs s s analysts lee holman, jerry sheldon, greg buzek date released: 1/14/2005 ihl consulting g

2、roup 1064 cedarview lane franklin, tn 37067 +1 615-591-2955 phone ihlconsulting groupthe future of workforce management for retailers 2 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved2 about ihl consulting group who we are ihl consulting group, a wholly owned subsidiary of ihl services, inc.

3、, is an independent business-consulting organization headquartered in franklin, tennessee. we specialize in business consulting, professional and technology referral, market analysis and business planning for retailers and information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. what we d

4、o we provide market research and business consulting in the area of information technology as it is deployed in the retail industry. our customers are retailers, consulting firms, consumer products manufacturers and retail technology providers who want to better understand what is going on in the ov

5、erall technology market, or wish to identify specific equipment needs for the retail market. when we started greg buzek served as product development manager for two fortune 500 retail technology suppliers for 6 years. faced with making recommendations to senior management based on spotty external r

6、esearch reports stuffed with technical jargon and unsubstantiated data, in 1996 he left to form ihl consulting group as an arms length consulting firm that delivers exacting research to corporate managers. how we work reliable market analysis is essential for corporations to accelerate revenue and e

7、xpand their market share. most research providers do not disclose data sources or statistically defend the validity of their assumptions. we do. we disclose in precise detail exactly how and why we reached our conclusions so that our customers can be comfortable with the data they are using. what we

8、 know our associates and advisors have combined over 100 years of retail technology experience. our associates have worked as product managers, sales representatives, teachers, trainers and executives in the retail market. we have the relationships, tools, and experience to meet your research and co

9、nsulting needs. ihlconsulting groupthe future of workforce management for retailers 3 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved3 table of contents introduction.4 background and objectives.4 workforce management defined.4 labor scheduling defined.4 time some with mergers or divestitures

10、, others with targeting key demographics and focusing on increased service. along with the retail trends there are key technology trends that continue to impact retailers as we approach 2005. customers are becoming savvier as the use of the internet increases. security has been boosted at physical l

11、ocations as well as over the internet due to terrorism, virus, and hacking fears. in 2004, we have seen the continued consolidation of the retail software market, with at least two acquisitions of exclusively workforce management providers (timera by jda, simplified workforce solutions by 360commerc

12、e). the solution universe now includes browser-based applications that take their place alongside their “shrinkwrap” cousins. ihls retail technology database currently shows many providers of software for time and attendance (214), labor scheduling (181), and workforce management (18). there has bee

13、n a pent-up demand in replacing pos hardware and software among retailers and 2004 looks to be the beginning of several years of upgrades. workforce management defined for purposes of this report, we define workforce management as the solution set that includes labor scheduling and time they sell 19

14、% of all food in the us, making them the largest grocery retailer, according to supermarket news. they also handle 16% of all pharmacy-drug sales in the us, with plans to increase that to 25% by 2008, making them the largest drug outlet in the world, according to executive intelligence review. furth

15、er, according to retail forward they sell 32% of all disposable diapers, 30% of all film, 26% of all toothpaste, and 21% of all pain remedies. they are able to leverage the margins of items in their superstores so they can absorb lower profit on food items, drug items, clothing items, etc, thus driv

16、ing down margins across all segments. this lower profit means that retailers will continue to focus their limited it spending on improvements that can generate greater efficiencies and a stronger bottom line. according to a recently published report from f no small task when ihls database shows over

17、 200 companies that provide such components to retailers. integration with other applications real-time integration has become a necessity in many retail formats as the retailers “match” competitors prices and provide cross-channel integration services such as order online and pick-up at the store.

18、in these situations a once a day batch processing of information is not adequate. another aspect of integration has to do with a topic already discussed, namely, preventing shrink. going back to the university of florida study mentioned before, administrative namely, recognizing the need for change

19、from the long-standing manual system and selecting a solution. the enhancements we see going forward are related to the area of integration with other applications. current systems are making inroads to significant integration with existing pos systems (and in some cases deli scales and other embedd

20、ed devices), which provide sales volume and inventory usage data. next on the integration path should be hr and then traffic counting solutions. the hr integration will go a long way to assist with budgeting for sales/labor hour goals, and the traffic counting solution would ihlconsulting groupthe f

21、uture of workforce management for retailers 12 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved12 allow retailers to see their traffic data as a function of time. following these, we expect training (or, as some call it, “learning management”) and erp solutions to be the next targets. a brows

22、er-based design will enable retailer-specific customizations and allow retailers and software developers to quickly adapt to new market challenges in a way never before seen in retail with systems that go across the platforms of different store systems. by enabling employees and hq-based managers to

23、 access the application via the web, retailers can free employees to indicate availability, review schedules and swap shifts, and hq-based managers can work with data to take a more active role in labor planning. further, we expect deeper integration with security systems (especially with the use of

24、 biometrics), promotions management, and specific task planning. the goal of all this is a sometimes misused term called “workforce optimization.” survey saidwhat about 2005 and beyond? what does the future hold? retailers will continue to adapt to a more widely diverse workforce; more diverse in cu

25、lture, education and expectations. immigration will ensure more and more of the worlds culture is represented in retail as well. and retail workers will continue to have differing expectations about where they work (type of retailer, mall location, etc), when they work (shift choice, flexible hours,

26、 etc) and why they work (benefits, potential for advancement, etc). in retail today, those that succeed are those that are most adaptable to change. technology is a big part of that equation, but its not the only part. labor will continue to be a major part of the cost structure. the application of

27、technology, especially in the area of workforce management, will go a long way to keeping the variable costs involved in labor at a minimum. “labor scheduling initiatives deliver the number one, most consistently fast payback in retailing today.” (gartner, 13th annual retail technology study) ihlcon

28、sulting groupthe future of workforce management for retailers 13 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved13 best practices awards aramark providing those hot dogs at the game just went hi-tech pennsylvania-based aramark provides managed services from catering and concessions to touris

29、m and hotels for some of the countrys best-known sports facilities, convention centers, national parks and resorts. they partner with sports and entertainment venues throughout the united states with a focus on creating the ultimate fan experience and helping clients run cost effective, facilities.

30、with more than 50,000 employees in the companys sports and entertainment services division, aramark has to balance labor expense for facility owners while ensuring adequate staffing and high-quality customer service. aramarks labor management foundation includes kronos timekeeper running on a window

31、s server network at each of its 17 sites. the system automates employee time collection at each site and transfers it to payroll for check processing. after timekeeper terminals collect employee information, they automatically transfer the data to aramarks corporate payroll system, eliminating the n

32、eed for manual entry, saving time, producing accurate accountability, and safeguarding against errors. aramark needed to turn employee-related data into useful information. by using kronos for frontline labor management, which includes automated labor scheduling, they were able to achieve the desire

33、d efficiencies in their labor management process. while aramark does some scheduling now based on the information it collects from badge-based timekeeper terminals, it will increase this capability by using kronos automated scheduling software. aramark will then be armed with all the information it

34、needs to properly schedule labor for events based on criteria fed into the system. additional enhancements to the system include the planned use of the kronos handpunch, a biometric identification system. the employee enters a four-digit code via the keypad on the handpunch and then glides her hand

35、onto the handpunch. her identity is verified in less than one second. american eagle outfitters labor scheduling takes retailer to new heights american eagle outfitters is a $1.5 billion mall-based retailer sells casual apparel and accessories (shirts, jeans, shorts, sweaters, skirts, footwear, belt

36、s, and bags) aimed at men and women ages 16 to 34. virtually all of the companys products bear its private-label brand names: american eagle outfitters and ae. they operate more than 800 stores with over 17,000 employees in the us and canada. american eagle outfitters had been scheduling their staff

37、s manually. additionally, they recognized that many of their competitors were using labor scheduling packages, thus putting them at a significant disadvantage. “we wanted what many retailers desire in this area: to be more effective and more efficient through scheduling workforce talent to the busin

38、ess needs,” says joe kerin, executive vice president of store operations at american eagle outfitters. “our business is fairly labor-intensive. employee count and hours worked are significant relative to sales volume. we wanted to give managers at the store level who may or may not be skilled in sch

39、eduling a retail calendar, with its many twists and turns in traffic patterns a tool to save them time and develop the most effective schedule.” “managers worked with pen and paper, making a list of names, day by day, hour by hour, plotting it manually on a grid for stores of upwards of 70 people,”

40、kerin says. “schedules were filled with flaws and based on emotion and guesswork. managers didnt have sufficient facts at their fingertips to make or qualify their judgment calls.” sap staffworks automatically evaluates scheduling variables like customer ihlconsulting groupthe future of workforce ma

41、nagement for retailers 14 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved14 traffic, floor coverage, employee skills and availability, point-of-sale data, workloads, budgetary constraints, and payroll objectives. the system then creates the optimal schedule for each location. “weve had a 50%

42、 increase in schedule effectiveness using sap staffworks. we are scheduling the right people at the right times and in the right quantities,” adds kerin. “our productivity this year is up nicely over the preceding year, and sap staffworks is an important enabler of that improvement.” not only is pro

43、ductivity up at american eagle outfitters so are sales and customer service. ihlconsulting groupthe future of workforce management for retailers 15 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved15 references www.bankruptcyd ihl retailer reports and databases 2003 national retail security su

44、rvey, university of florida ihl consulting group/ris news unlocking pos store systems study, january 2004 company press releases, 10ks company web sites, white papers, and product literature microsoft website (partner directory) ag edwards analyst briefing notes on wal-mart, 10/6/04 bureau of labor

45、statistics ihlconsulting groupthe future of workforce management for retailers 16 copyright 2005 ihl consulting group all rights reserved16 licensing: this report comes with an enterprise electronic license and can be used freely within the purchasing organization or posted on an intranet where access is limited to company personnel. this license extends to wholly owned subsidiaries. if you would like to sh